Dr. William Bryant's College-Ready Writing Essentials is an online course that teaches high school students how to write college-level essays. This five-week course covers the writing process and the conventions of writing an essay, walking students through the process of writing a three- to five-page, persuasive research essay. The course covers the mechanics of writing, and it goes beyond them to help students understand such things as the expectations for college-level writing, the importance of critical thinking, how to express their own ideas based on information and research, how to present arguments, the importance of taking into consideration what a course instructor will be looking for, and how to work with peers.
In Lesson 9, Dr. Bryant says,
You need to be able not merely to repeat knowledge but to transform it by teasing out new insights, bringing ideas or information together in new ways, refining a point, adding a perspective that can change the way people think about a topic, identifying flaws in an argument, or helping others appreciate a truth that wasn’t apparent before.
The course has 25 lessons, including video and written instruction for each lesson by course creator Dr. Bryant, and there's an optional add-on to get his personalized feedback on the enrolled student's essay at two points during the process.
Most of the lessons—up to the point where students are ready to actually write their paper—have one or two assignments that help build the necessary skills. Dr. Bryant includes sample essays of varying quality so that students can see what he is talking about. Some lessons include links to YouTube videos that expand on topics.
The course has editable, downloadable files for the worksheets and writing assignments. Students do not send these in. The assignments help students work through the writing process to create their paper, so there are no set answers that would require an answer key. However, it could be helpful if a knowledgeable person would go over some or all of these worksheets and assignments to give feedback along the way.
Even though there is no feedback for most of the course (unless you provide it, or choose the essay feedback by Dr. Bryant add-on), students learn about peer review and feedback since those techniques are commonly used in college settings. Peer review exercises are included as students work on the introduction, body, and conclusion of their paper. If students are fortunate enough to be in touch with at least one other student taking this course, they can serve as peer reviewers for one another using the form provided. Otherwise, they have to take a step back from their own writing and act as their own reviewer. With the guiding questions provided, even self-review is useful.
Students will use MLA (Modern Language Association) guidelines for formatting and citations. While student essays need to have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion, this course teaches students to come up with a structure that suits their topic rather than adhering to a particular structure, such as writing exactly five paragraphs.
The course reflects a classical model of education to some extent. Most of the time, this is a subtle influence, but sometimes it is more obvious. For instance, in Lesson 12, Dr. Bryant teaches about rhetorical appeals under the headings of ethos, logos, and pathos—terms typically used in classical rhetoric and writing courses.
Purchase of the course provides your entire family with lifetime access to the course.
Summary
For homeschoolers who are unable to participate in a college-prep level writing class, College-Ready Writing Essentials offers the opportunity to receive excellent instruction. You can access the first two lessons for free so students can determine whether Dr. Bryant's approach works for them.
